Grinding - not sure if pain or not

[Azerane]

I've been a little unsure of this for a while, so I figured I may as well ask.

Almost every day, maybe once or twice a day, Bandit does loud tooth grinding. By loud, I mean that he's in one corner of the room, and I'm in the other 5 + meters away and I can hear him.Everything I've read keeps telling me that loud grinding indicates pain, so naturally I've been a bit worried about it, but he often does it when he's all flopped out and looking very relaxed (no hunched posture, doesn't look uncomfortable etc). At first I noticed it around the time I got home from work every day, and I was worried that perhaps he was eating his pellets too quickly earlier in the day, so I split his 1/4 cup pellets into two meals, but nothing has changed.

His behaviour is completely normal, a very happy, hoppy bunny. He tends to spend the middle of the day 11am-4pm sleeping/lounging/munching hay in his condo which is often when I hear the grinding. Every time I go and check on him though, he seems fine. So I'm wondering whether Bandit might just grind loudly sometimes when he's relaxing/happy. If I'm petting him he does very soft tooth purring, which definitely sounds different, but I can't find any other indicators of pain/illness from the other grinding.

As an example, a few minutes ago he was sprawled out lounging, I heard him grind loudly, a few minutes later he got up to groom for a moment and followed that up with a bunny flop. Not exactly the behaviour of an unhappy bunny if you ask me.

I'm just wondering what other people think.

Some general info:
Bandit weighs approx 3kg or 6.5 pounds. 2 and a bit years old, neutered. Unlimited meadow hay, 1/4 cup oxbow adult pellets daily split into two meals. Handful of fresh greens daily, mostly herbs (grinding can happen whether I feed these or not).

 

[emilybispo]

My snowy does a very loud tooth grind when i pet her, I'm pretty positive its a purr yours might be too! She shows no sign of discomfort and is very happy other wise.

 

[stevesmum]

Nope that doesn't seem like painful grinding. I've heard my rabbits do that on occasion too. If everything else seems normal with him I wouldnt worry too much. Maybe it's just his odd little quirk.

 

[Sophie's Humble Servant]

I understand your concern, especially when its a new behaviour. You know your bun best. If he's acting normal in all other ways, he's probably fine.

Now, having said that, I would probably check out his teeth, just to make sure there isn't a spur or something thats causing more noise when he's tooth purring. Im not sure if that can happen but Im paranoid, so thats the first thing I think of.

 

[Azerane]

I don't think it's especially new, but I can't really recall when it started either. It's one of those things that just sort of creeps up and you realise it's been happening a bit. At his check-up in January the vet said she was seeing the start of a potential spur, but she said it would be fine if I used a coarser hay, which I have been and he's showing no trouble eating hay or pellets at all.

And just as I'm typing he's doing it again, while in a dead bunny flop, so surely he's not in pain. Thanks for all the feedback, I don't think he's in pain, it's just not something you expect is a positive sound.

 

[JBun]

If he isn't belly pressing or showing any other signs of pain or discomfort, I would be inclined to think he is just a loud contented tooth purrer/chatterer. I have some buns that chatter quite loudly when very content.

 

[Azerane]

Thanks JBun, I think you're right.